Collaborative Responsibilities for this unit:1. Class Notes:Campbell, Mel, Corey
2. Reading Notes:Oliver, Ruth, Charly, Matti3. The Map: Christina, John, Chris4. The Timeline:Lyndon, Jenny, Audrey, Emily For clarification on these responsibilities see the Course Policy page. To see how I will be grading your participation and blog posts during this unit click here.
Homework due for class #1
1. Please download and read José Martí´s "Our América." Keep in mind that this is now "Unit 2: The Return of the Galleons" and the readings and links are kept in another folder on the conference.
2. (Optional, because you're just so darned intellectually curious) How do we think of civilization and barbarism in our time? Every year Yale University sponsors a series of lectures on the relationship between science and religion. In this podcast entitled 'Culture and Barbarism' Terry Eagleton (the world-famous literary critic) puts these terms into a contemporary context. Prof. Eagleton's language is dense and his argumentation is sophisticated. Give him a shot though, he has a great sense of humor and some powerful insights.
José Martí
Wednesday, September 24 In class: 1. Discuss Martí's "Our America." We dicussed some of the central images in this text - natural man, his closing thoughts on race, his tiger (when compared to Facundo's tiger), the octopus. Also, taking Martí and Sarmiento as our examples we touched on the changing image of the United States . Homework due for class #2:1. Please read Martí's poetry laid out on pages 21-27 of Tapscott.
Thursday, September 25In class: 1. Discuss Martí's poetry. We will begin the class by discussing "The Opposite if Ornate and Rhetorical Poetry."Martí begins the final part of this poem saying "This is what noble poetry should be:"What, for Martí, is noble poetry?
2. We will talk breifly about the structure of "Simple Verses", its use in popular music, and all that is lost in the translation of this poem.
Homework due for class #3:1. Please read"Liminary Words" and the preface to Songs of Life and Hope. Both texts are by Rubén Darío.
Friday, September 26In class: 1. Discuss Darío's 'Liminary Words 'the preface to Songs of Life and Hope. We will also present the social context in which Darío was writing and his relation to, or refusal to relate to it.
Homework due for Class #4:.1.Please read Darío's poems on pgs. 30-39 of the Tapscott anthology. We will pay special attention to "The Swan", "Fatality" and "To Roosevelt."
2. Also please make sure to read the 4-page introduction to el modernismo by Jean Franco. This is a wonderfully clear and succint text that will shed a lot of light on the texts by both Darío and Martí that we have seen. 3. Remember that if you are yet to blog on the modernistas you should publish something by 8am on Monday.
Rubén Darío
Monday, September 29In class:1. Discuss Darío's poetry.We will pay special attention to "The Swan", "Fatality" and "To Roosevelt.
Homework due for class #5:
NO HOMEWORK. Nevertheless, please read ahead to what we are going to be doing in class on Wednesday and make sure to have all of the necessary texts with you in class. Wednesday, October 1In class: 1. Using Jean Franco's intro to el modernismo as well as your own readings of the texts that we have seen in class, please make a list of what you see as three of the characteristic features typical of the literature of this period. Clearly there are some important differences between the different genres that we have seen (think of the contrast, for example, between Darío's "The Swan" and Martí's essay "Our America"), but what are some of the common denominators. Please find at least two quotes from the literary texts in order to support your claims.
2. Depending on time we may take a look at the opening of Ariel, just to contextualize. Your reading tonight is an excerpt from this book-length essay. The excerpt (pages 70-90) toward the end of the book, so I would like to at least give you some background on it before dropping you into the middle of a rather difficult text. Homework due for class #6: 1. Please read from page 70-80 of José Enrique Rodó's Ariel.
José Enrique Rodó
Thursday, October 2In class: 1.Present the format of the upcoming Oral Test.
2.Discuss Rodó's Ariel.
Homework due for class #7: 1. If you are yet to do so, please look at the calendar to see when I have an opening for the Oral Test that will work for you. Send me an e-mail. 2. Please read through page 90 of Ariel. Friday, October 3In class:1. Discuss Rodó's Ariel.
Homework due for class #8: 1. Read Horacio Quiroga's short stories "The Feather Pillow" and "The Decapitated Chicken." While you are reading please reflect of Quiroga's representation of civilization and barbarism. Has the artists' view of this dichotomy changed since Sarmiento? since Martí and Rodó? Compare his point of view with these other three thinkers'. How is it the same? How does it differ? 2. The story is brief, hopefully this leaves you some time to review for your upcoming test. As I pointed out yesterday, one part of the Oral Test will be a quote I.D. and explanation. You might consider highlighting and explaining in your blog some of what you see as important quotes that you wouldn't be surprised to see. Otherwise, you may want to reflect directly on one of the possible "oral essay" questions. My recommendation would be to do some flirting with the questions that seem most difficult for you. I will do my best to comment your post, and hopefully steer you in the right direction.
Horacio Quiroga
Monday, October 6In class:1. Discuss Quiroga's stories.
Homework due for class #9: 1. See #2 from Friday's assignment. Again, the reading is quite short, I hope that this leaves you some time to study for the test. Use your blogs as a form of group study. Write and read/comment your classmates' writing as a sort of testing ground for your ideas.
Wednesday, October 9 In class:NO CLASS. This is my way of paying you back for taking 15 minutes of your free time to do your Oral Test with me.
Homework due for class #10: Out of respect for those who will be celebrating over the long weekend there is no homework . When we come back we will jump into a new unit on the avant-garde in Latin America. Those of you who are not celebrating may find this a good time to get some a lot of reading done for your final projects. Plan ahead and try to have your books in hand by this time. Also, because the coming unit will lean heavily on poetry, I think that you will find that you have some time to work on your final projects then too. If you wait until December to start reading your book, you will be creating a difficult situation for yourself. Once we start reading "100 Years of Solitude" the reading assignments will be around 25-30 pages per class. It is contemporary prose, so it isn't as if it can be equated to slugging through Sarmiento or Rodó, but nevertheless, I don´t think that you will find yourself with a lot of extra time to dedicat to your final projects during those 5 weeks.
Collaborative Responsibilities for this unit: 1. Class Notes:Campbell, Mel, Corey
2. Reading Notes: Oliver, Ruth, Charly, Matti 3. The Map: Christina, John, Chris 4. The Timeline:Lyndon, Jenny, Audrey, Emily
For clarification on these responsibilities see the Course Policy page.
To see how I will be grading your participation and blog posts during this unit click here.
Homework due for class #1
1. Please download and read José Martí´s "Our América." Keep in mind that this is now "Unit 2: The Return of the Galleons" and the readings and links are kept in another folder on the conference.2. (Optional, because you're just so darned intellectually curious) How do we think of civilization and barbarism in our time? Every year Yale University sponsors a series of lectures on the relationship between science and religion. In this podcast entitled 'Culture and Barbarism' Terry Eagleton (the world-famous literary critic) puts these terms into a contemporary context. Prof. Eagleton's language is dense and his argumentation is sophisticated. Give him a shot though, he has a great sense of humor and some powerful insights.
Wednesday, September 24
In class: 1. Discuss Martí's "Our America." We dicussed some of the central images in this text - natural man, his closing thoughts on race, his tiger (when compared to Facundo's tiger), the octopus. Also, taking Martí and Sarmiento as our examples we touched on the changing image of the United States .
Homework due for class #2: 1. Please read Martí's poetry laid out on pages 21-27 of Tapscott.
Thursday, September 25 In class:
1. Discuss Martí's poetry. We will begin the class by discussing "The Opposite if Ornate and Rhetorical Poetry." Martí begins the final part of this poem saying "This is what noble poetry should be:" What, for Martí, is noble poetry?
2. We will talk breifly about the structure of "Simple Verses", its use in popular music, and all that is lost in the translation of this poem.
Homework due for class #3: 1. Please read"Liminary Words" and the preface to Songs of Life and Hope. Both texts are by Rubén Darío.Friday, September 26
1. Discuss Darío's 'Liminary Words ' the preface to Songs of Life and Hope. We will also present the social context in which Darío was writing and his relation to, or refusal to relate to it.
Homework due for Class #4:. 1.Please read Darío's poems on pgs. 30-39 of the Tapscott anthology. We will pay special attention to "The Swan", "Fatality" and "To Roosevelt."2. Also please make sure to read the 4-page introduction to el modernismo by Jean Franco. This is a wonderfully clear and succint text that will shed a lot of light on the texts by both Darío and Martí that we have seen.
3. Remember that if you are yet to blog on the modernistas you should publish something by 8am on Monday.
Homework due for class #5:NO HOMEWORK. Nevertheless, please read ahead to what we are going to be doing in class on Wednesday and make sure to have all of the necessary texts with you in class.
Wednesday, October 1In class:
1. Using Jean Franco's intro to el modernismo as well as your own readings of the texts that we have seen in class, please make a list of what you see as three of the characteristic features typical of the literature of this period. Clearly there are some important differences between the different genres that we have seen (think of the contrast, for example, between Darío's "The Swan" and Martí's essay "Our America"), but what are some of the common denominators. Please find at least two quotes from the literary texts in order to support your claims.
2. Depending on time we may take a look at the opening of Ariel, just to contextualize. Your reading tonight is an excerpt from this book-length essay. The excerpt (pages 70-90) toward the end of the book, so I would like to at least give you some background on it before dropping you into the middle of a rather difficult text.
Homework due for class #6:
1. Please read from page 70-80 of José Enrique Rodó's Ariel.
Thursday, October 2 In class:
1.Present the format of the upcoming Oral Test.
2.Discuss Rodó's Ariel.
Homework due for class #7:1. If you are yet to do so, please look at the calendar to see when I have an opening for the Oral Test that will work for you. Send me an e-mail.
2. Please read through page 90 of Ariel.
Friday, October 3 In class:1. Discuss Rodó's Ariel.
Homework due for class #8:1. Read Horacio Quiroga's short stories "The Feather Pillow" and "The Decapitated Chicken." While you are reading please reflect of Quiroga's representation of civilization and barbarism. Has the artists' view of this dichotomy changed since Sarmiento? since Martí and Rodó? Compare his point of view with these other three thinkers'. How is it the same? How does it differ?
2. The story is brief, hopefully this leaves you some time to review for your upcoming test. As I pointed out yesterday, one part of the Oral Test will be a quote I.D. and explanation. You might consider highlighting and explaining in your blog some of what you see as important quotes that you wouldn't be surprised to see. Otherwise, you may want to reflect directly on one of the possible "oral essay" questions. My recommendation would be to do some flirting with the questions that seem most difficult for you. I will do my best to comment your post, and hopefully steer you in the right direction.
Homework due for class #9:1. See #2 from Friday's assignment. Again, the reading is quite short, I hope that this leaves you some time to study for the test. Use your blogs as a form of group study. Write and read/comment your classmates' writing as a sort of testing ground for your ideas.
Wednesday, October 9In class:NO CLASS. This is my way of paying you back for taking 15 minutes of your free time to do your Oral Test with me.
Homework due for class #10:Out of respect for those who will be celebrating over the long weekend there is no homework . When we come back we will jump into a new unit on the avant-garde in Latin America. Those of you who are not celebrating may find this a good time to get some a lot of reading done for your final projects. Plan ahead and try to have your books in hand by this time. Also, because the coming unit will lean heavily on poetry, I think that you will find that you have some time to work on your final projects then too. If you wait until December to start reading your book, you will be creating a difficult situation for yourself. Once we start reading "100 Years of Solitude" the reading assignments will be around 25-30 pages per class. It is contemporary prose, so it isn't as if it can be equated to slugging through Sarmiento or Rodó, but nevertheless, I don´t think that you will find yourself with a lot of extra time to dedicat to your final projects during those 5 weeks.